THORNTON NEWS
by Cathie Miller

When I started writing this column a few years ago, Carol McPherson took a chance on me. Although I had no writing experience, Carol was willing to let me give it a try. So I was very sad when I heard over the weekend that she had passed away. When Carol was the editor here at the Scope, I rarely ever spoke to her, in fact we had never met; most of our communication was by email. Carol was always there with help and advice when I was struggling to establish myself as the writer of the Thornton News. She could tell by the tone of my column whether I was happy or sad and would often inquire about my well being or send me a kind word of encouragement just when I needed it the most. You could say that she was my mentor. As we all often do, leaving things unsaid until it is too late, thank you Carol for taking a chance on me.

Isn't it wonderful that spring has arrived? As I write this the weatherman says that it will be 16 today. I will be happy to put away coats, boots and mittens and enjoy the weather. One activity many look forward to is baseball and Ivy Minor baseball is hosting a registration on Saturday, March 31 from 10 a.m. until noon at the Ivy Orange Hall located on the 20th Side Road of Essa west of County Road 27. Registration is for teams of T-Ball, Rookie Ball, Tyke, Peewee and Bantam players. For further information contact Christine Mink at 721-8116 or Charlene Vanderpost at 739-9226.

On Saturday, March 24 the Essa Historical Society will be holding their monthly meeting at the Thornton Library starting at 1:30 p.m. They will be presenting their annual reports and a historical video. All are welcome to attend. For more information contact Olive at 458-9971.

Ontario Early Years will be presenting their next program for preschoolers at the Thornton Library on March 27th from 10 until 11 a.m. The session is free but preregistration is required. The next story time at the library begins registration on March 26 for either four consecutive Monday or Tuesday mornings. The cost is $2.00 per child

If you belong to the library, it also gives you access to online electronic resources. Once you have obtained your user name and password from your local branch just visit www.essa.library.on.ca and click on electronic resources. There you can access references sources such as Chilton's Auto Repair, Encyclopedia Britannica, Health Source and new to the site Knowledge Ontario.

With warmer weather and more light in the evenings you may want to stop into the library and borrow one of the Pedometer Packs and start a walking fitness program. The pedometer pack comes with a 10,000 steps tracking booklet to record your progress over a 12 week period. The goal is to get you stepping in the right direction for an active lifestyle and it has been determined that taking 10,000 steps daily is a healthy way to do it. Stop by the library to sign up today.

As always, if you have any news, meetings, anniversaries or special occasions, I'd be happy to write about them. You can email me at thorntonnews@rogers.com or call me at (705) 458-0869 or drop it off at 25 Robert Street. Bye for now…..